My daughter will be three next month. She already knows her alphabet by sight, and has for several months now. She likes for us to read to her, and I am wondering if we shouldn't start working with her to start reading. What are the best books to begin her on? What books did you start with your kids? I do have some of the Dr. Suess books, but if they have too many words on the page she gets frustrated. I guess I am looking for books that will help her with word recognition. Thanks! :)
Have you considered simple flash cards?
Alphabet books are a good place to start. And opposite books (up/down, over/under)
And keep reading aloud to her!
It's the best thing you can do--you're introducing vocabulary, tone, inflection, etc.
You have received some great suggestions. Another idea that is fun is to make your own books. I have made some with our kids and they love them. They are very repetitive at first. I made one with my son called
I Can do many things (or something like that.) I took pictures of him running, swimming, jumping, etc. Then I printed out the pictures. I used construction paper and put one picture on each page. At the bottom of each I wrote in large, neat print, I can jump. I can run. I can swim. Etc. We made a cover and stapled the pages together. We read it over and over. We went to the aquarium and made a book . Each page said, We saw a _______. with pictures of the animals we saw. Sometimes I even make an "about the author" page at the end for some of the books and put their likes and dislikes. They LOVE those and laugh at the older ones because they have changed so much. It is best if you make the child part of making the books such as gluing the pictures on the pages with your help and watching you write the words. I let them decorate the covers too with drawings or stickers.
It's fun, easy, and motivates them to read.
I wouldn't push her if she's getting frustrated. I would continue to do what you're doing and make sure you're not just pointing out words in books. Words in everyday life are great for word recognition. STOP signs. The big K in Kmart. The W in Wal mart. Tons of signs.
The Boynton books are great. Snuggle Puppy. The Going To Bed Book. Tons to choose from. Cute pictures and funny too. It sounds like you're on the right track. Just be patient and it will come.
Any book with 3-4 words on each page with pictures. Your local library should have an entire section devoted to "pre-reader" books such as these. Good luck!
Get her a good picture dictionary and just keep reading to her. I agree with Denise P about Alphabet and opposite books too. No need to push her; she'll start reading when she's ready.
Hit the library!! They have a beginning readers section... start with level 1, and work her up. My kids are 6 and 7 and reading chapter books with no pictures, and I started them at the library on level one around your daughters age :) Best thing to do: read to her! They also have 'you read to me, I read to you' books, where you start, then she gets some to read, and it flip flops and repeats words so they start to really get it! Good luck and have fun :)
I have heard great things about Bob books.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3...
If you have a Costco in your area, they sell these in "collections" which ends up giving you 2 consecutive sets for the price of less than one on amazon.
I will be the odd mom out, and say, please don't teach her to read yet. She is not even three yet! It is not good for her, developmentally, to start reading so young (UNLESS she just teaches herself - some kids do).
Even the latest studies show it is NOT good for children to start reading so young. Our school does not even teach it until second grade. And I assure you that our children are excellent readers, reading beyond their grade level. Waiting did not hurt them at all. In fact, my son, 12, scored in the top 2% nationwide, on the Iowa Basics.
Just keep reading to her. Enjoy the time you have reading to her. She enjoys it more than you know. Not just because of the reading, but because of the bonding. And typically, once children start reading by themselves, parents really pull back on reading to them, and some stop altogether.
Blessings.
Dr Suess isn't really for beginner readers. They have difficult and made up words and too many words per page.
For a 3 year old I'd suggest BOB books. They are little, paper pages with small and easy words.
Also the library has tons of "level 1" books. I think some are a lot easier than others. I suggest the books that follow a sound, like "a" - long and short a sounds - instead of beginning words like "dog" "cat" etc.
You may also be able to start learning some "sight words" - our kindergarten teacher gave us a list of the most common words beginner readers should know.
We put them on flashcards and practice them all the time. They are words like the, like, me, you, as, them, are...
Another vote for "checking out" the library :-). Many of them will have picture books on cassette or CD packaged with a copy of the book (e.g. Curious George, Goodnight Moon, etc.) so your child can listen to the book and follow the story on the pages at the same time.
My girls enjoyed the "Wonder" books for practicing reading on their own - each book is focused on a particular sound with simple text and engaging photos - e.g. "Slip and Slide, the sound of SL" has pictures of kids sledding. We borrowed them from the library - they look like this http://www.sundancepub.com/c/@LFYiWs44U7Ctg/Pages/product...
And personally I think that reading with her is the best thing you can do at this stage - IMO there's a huge difference between "teaching a child to read" and "teaching a child to LOVE reading" - and if she's getting frustrated by trying to read things on her own, feel free to let her focus more on listening to you or others reading to her for the time being.
There are different levels of the Berenstain bear books.. also, they usually have some lesson to teach.. e.g. cleaning up after yourself, no bullying.. having manners.. etc etc..
There are Diego and Dora books that are organized by letter. There are only a few words per book, and they highlight in bold the "subject" letter in each word. That is what our 3 1/2 year old has started with. Not mastered yet, but he loves them! Also.... LEAPSTER2!!! We had hesitated in getting it because of how expensive the games were and not sure if he'd really like it. He has learned SO MUCH!! Every time a game seems a little "beyond" him, it takes maybe an hour to master it. The kid knows the order of the planets from the Wall-E game!!!! Get the games on Amazon for 50%-75% off!
Flashcards with sight words are very helpful- you can get them at a teaching supply store. I also labeled everything around our house with a card as to what it is. That helped with word recognition a lot. The "Biscuit" series is pretty good first book series. There are repetitive words, and easy sentences. Hope this helps!
I still love Dick and Jane books. They start slow and keep building on. Also, if you can find books by Margaret Hillert. She wrote books for early readers years ago. Both my children learned how to read with her books and many other children that I have cared for over the years.
